Avatar Hana
by FirebenderAsami
Summary: From the moment I was born, something set me apart from all the other people on this great blue planet. I was the Avatar, born peacekeeper and bridge between worlds, but never will I accept this burden.
1. Chapter 1

"I am not the Avatar."

I slammed the door for the what could've been the millionth time. Why couldn't they just leave me alone? Another dreaded knock rapped on my door.

I opened it again, ready to speak my mind. "Look, the Avatar is not here and she will never be! Now leave before I call the guards!" I gave the door one final slam before collapsing in a depressed heap on the hard wood floor. Tears made their way down my face, dripping silently on the floor.

I never asked for this. I don't want to be the Avatar. I just want to be Hana, wife of Tarn of Republic City and an average, everyday, normal person.

I tried my best to collect myself. "I am not the Avatar." I repeated to myself through clenched teeth. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my broom and resumed tyding my house, whisking away the salty tears like I wanted with my troubles. Tarn would be home soon. I couldn't let him see me like this. I couldn't let him know the truth.

I continued cleaning frantically, counting away each painful second that passed by before Tarn came home. I just wanted to feel safe, wrapped tightly in his arms again. He was the only person I wanted to see. The only who truly made me feel free.

The door made a familliar sound as relief washed over me. "I'm home, Hana." His voice rang like the sweetest of symphonies to me. I hurried over and fell into his strong sun tanned arms. Trying not cry, I met his face for a long passionate kiss whilst trying my best to act natural. Unfortunately, he knew me far too well to fall for my ruse.

"Hana, what happened?" He wistfully inquired. I had trouble meeting his face. I couldn't let him know. Not yet.

"Honey, I just missed you. You've been gone for so long and I... well I've just been so lonely..." Tarn grab my shoulders, inching his face closer to mine. Finally, when his amber eyes met mine he spoke, "Hana, I know you're not telling the truth. I've known you for too lo-"He paused as the door bell rang.

"This better not be another one of those damn collectors." He muttered under his breath. My gaze averted as he turned to open the door of our apartment, revealing another sage draped in a yellow cloak.

My heart dropped. My world was crumbling and now Tarn was dragged in this again.

"We know you are harbouring the Avatar, Tarn, she cannot hid-" Tarn slammed the door before he could finish, his face now one of forlorn dissapointment. I could feel a few tears escaping when he picked me up off the ground.

"We need to leave now, Hana." I was sick of running, but what other choice did I have? Brushing a few tears away from my face, he let me down and grabbed a suitcase. I did the same, grabbing a few essential items, a toothbrush, some clothes and most importantly, the picture of my mom that I kept on my nightstand. She may be gone but I would always keep her close to my heart.

Fear creeped into me as I watched Tarn do the same. He carefully packed away his most prized possessions, his first tie, his finest suit he wore on our wedding night, a picture of his family... I took the picture from his suitcase and examined it to distract myself.

It was an older photo, 15 or so years old. There was a handsome young father in his 30's with fire amber eyes shining with pride just like Tarn. Next to him stood Tarn's mother, a beautiful Southern Water Tribe girl he had met on a buissness trip. She was pregnant with Tarn's sister Ilya and in her hands held Tarn's brother Rorik swaddled tightly in a bright blue blanket. Tarn stood in front of his father, a young boy of 5 years. He had a wide grin that spread ear to ear and messy black hair that he swears his mother could never tame. Thank the spirits it doesn't look like that anymore. Next to him was the final member of his family, his sister Aya. She was 7 in this photo and wore a beautiful traditional fire nation dress. She had goregeous long red hair that this faded old photo just couldn't do justice.

I felt Tarn tug at my arm knocking me back into the painful reality. "Come, I think they left." Tarn took a look at the photo I was holding and sat down next to me, intertwining his fingers into mine. "Quite the handsome family you have there." He gave me a sad smile and sighed. "I just hope they're doing okay after all these years."

He stood up, taking the photo with him and placed it back in the suitcase. "We leave at midnight. Hopefully they'll be gone by then." I nodded in agreement. I sat down on my bed and fell back into the stack of pillows. Fine fire nation silk, a gift from my father. I touched one, feeling the soothing texture under my fingers. Tarn joined me and together we looked up past the ceiling and to the starry unknown above.

"I can't believe they found us. It's been so long. I - I thought we were safe." I inched closer to him, wrapping my arm around his muscular torso. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, I'm just so sick of running away fro-" He put a finger to my lips silencing me.

"It's okay, Hana, you know I would do everything in my power to protect you." He pulled me closer to him. "Even if means running away for the rest of my life. Don't ever hide things from me again. You don't need to worry."

Smiling hard, I drew him in for a quick kiss. "I love you, Tarn."

He smiled back.

"I love you too, Hana."

We left that night in the cover of darkness. Watch over me, okay Mom? I promise I will make you proud.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Of Flames and Forethought

Cold and bitter was the night we left. It scorned us like the traitors we were, biting and cold, nipping at our ankles. Threatening to overtake us. Tarn's fingers intertwining with mine, I squeezed gloved hands tighter, till I felt my knuckles drain of their color.

Fire bending was out of the question. They'd be looking for us, and here we stood, alone in the heart of Republic City, two firebenders clinging together for warmth. They'd know something was up. Those with our gift knew better, had better. The streets of the inner city were no place for us, where the houses stood short and scraggly, sparsely candle lit and dark as the cold, cold night. Here the poor took refuge, and everyone knew benders just didn't come poor in this city of "dreams"

We trudged on, the train station looming closer for every step we took. We had no choice. I didn't want to go back; I was no one's slave. Not the sages, not Republic city's and no,not even the world's, and I intended to keep it that way.

The sky bloomed above us, inky black, marred only by the dull twinkle of stars, most having been drowned out entirely by the gaudy lights of the city skyline. Dark clouds hung suspended in the air, like lazing sky bison on a midsummer after noon. Soon,I told myself, soon this city will be behind us, the acrid air that tasted of smoke and ashes, the obnoxious sounds of the daily bustle, the bitter winter nights that smothered the city in blankets of deep, deep snow.

Helpless did I feel here. A freshwater fish in a vast salty sea.

In the distance, the wail of sirens followed by the flashing of blue and red lights blinked past us in a instant. A rush of wind hit me as a dark figure dashed desperately a head of me, a boy struggling to keep up from behind. The boy wore a determined look and clutched in skinny fingers was a thick loaf of Walnut bread. Judging by the tattered rags that adorned the boy, he probably hadn't come across the loaf by legitimate means.

He strode by as fast as his thin and awkward adolescent legs could take him. He strode past us finally, taking a sharp turn into a ragged pathway in abetween two tall buildings, leading to a quaint little home, squished between them like a poor man's sandwich. He hesitated before reaching the door, clutching his prize tighter against his chest. He opened the ragged door, to be met by a stern looking old women, the age lines on her face as telling as rings in a tree.

With a rough tug she dragged the boy inside and closed the door behind her.

I cringed as I heard the striking of metal on bare flesh mere seconds later. The poor thing's screams stretched far into the city night, intermingling with the cold and reaching out into the skyline as a welcomed guest.

And then came the fire.

That boy was bender, and judging by the ferocity of those flames, he was sick of blindly accepting what the world had handed him. He wanted more. Break the chain and cut the cord, my friend. Show the world you're not it's slave.

Bright tongues of flames licked the sides of the house black and soon engulfed the entire house. The ensuing silence was deafening.

But then I remembered the dark truth. The boy would likely be arrested for this, pegged a murderer and a traitor. Once again denied the life and liberty guaranteed to him by a flimsy piece of paper, written by privileged youth with their heads too far into the clouds and silver spoons jammed in their mouths.

"City of Dreams." I said, aloud.

Tarn didn't answer. He knew what I meant. The stories of Republic City were lies, but it was too late for regrets now.

Tarn and I had continued on the sidewalk at that point, the house beginning growing smaller and smaller 'till it was no more than another dull star on the horizon and then gone by daybreak.

The seconds passed by like minutes, and minutes like hours. The sight of the boy's gaunt face and the sound of his desperate pleas haunted me. This city wasn't a place of dreams, rather it bred nightmares like sewer rats. Every shanty house we passed I could imagine another boy, or maybe even a girl or two who lived there. Waking up to the smell of boiled cabbage and burning fat and putting on tattered rags to get ready for a school that may well not even exist.

We had it well, didn't we.

The train station was in our view a few hours after our midnight departure. Even at this hour, the station pulsated with life, from the scores of people coming in and out at a whim, the lights that shined like a cat's eyes in the dark and the dings are whirrs of the trains pulling into the station. We took our first step into the train station since we first moved here as bright eyed, but terrified and naive teenagers. Tarn took the lead, and I straggled a safe distance behind as we parted through the sparsely crowded grand entrance, built courtesy of the CEO of Future Industries, Asami Sato, over 25 years ago.

It was magnificent, the entrance, on the high ceilings hung massive chandeliers dripping from them crystals of almost unimaginable scope. Past the chandeliers where elaborate murals from famous artists around the 4 nations, from Yin Ping Lee to Monk Syri, mingled and meshed with each other as a single image. I looked towards the ground, where a lavish statue caught my eye. Covered in gold, it shined bright in contrast to the weakly speckled marble floors. My eyes wondered to the face, and then everything went pitch black.

I opened my eyes, only they weren't my eyes. I looked down to see a body that wasn't mine, followed by well muscled arms that also weren't mine. Moving forward in this shell, I lunged faster and faster into the starry blue expanse that was lied out before me, never ending, when the the scene changed to a bright blinding light, forcing my eyes shut.

Again, I opened my eyes, and in front of me stood a taller man, no older then 25 or so, in his right hand, a burning flame, in his left a gushing torrent of water. He stood proud on a earthen pedestal, as the winds rushed from behind him, ruffling his scraggy black hair around. The statue made flesh.

I made the realization, the handsome young man with the unkempt beard and the borderline goofy smile was Avatar Wan.

With a loud splash, a thud, and a whoosh, the elements he was bending subsided to be, vanishing into the air around him. His pedestal gone, his eyes returned to their normal color and took a long hard look at me. The body that wasn't mine, the eyes that didn't lead to my soul, and the feet that weren't under my command pointed to him. I could feel myself bow in respect, my teeth clenching shut in reverence. I arose, meeting him face to face. His serious persona cracked and from the depths of the unlikely sprang a small giggle, followed by full blown laughter. I wanted to frown, or raise my eyebrows but this body resisted my mind.

"Sorry, sorry!" He managed to gasp in between his laughter.

"But for an avatar this really should come naturally to you." He pointed at me. Did he mean the body I was controlling? Or was it something more?

"You need more force in your mind. Let your timid and passive nature go. Will it like you do the earth, the water, fire and the air that flows in your veins and makes you who you are."

Internally I shook my head. That wasn't who I was or who I'd ever be. I didn't need to be sweet talked by a man who is supposedly my original incarnation from 1000 years ago. What did he know about me?

Mentally I willed myself away, away from this body that I couldn't control, and back alongside Tarn who held me cradled in his arms.

"Oh thank the gods." He whispered to me.

I stood up from his embrace, to see quite the crowd around us. Concerned faces looked at me and then at Tarn. I looked at him and he shrugged well muscled shoulders. Guess I'd have to deal with it myself.

"I'm fine guys, really. Just a dizzy spell!" I assured them.

They muttered amongst themselves, and a few gave accepting crowd started dispersing and soon enough it was just tarn and I again, how it should be.

"You're lucky your eyes didn't start glowing. With that crowd they'd have spotted you in an instant."

That hit a raw nerve. It was so easy to be dragged into this so called avatar state. My eyes take on an otherworldly white glow and my spirit leaves this physical plane, leaving me out of control of my actions.

Scary.

Tarn placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder and lead me away from the stragglers left from the previous crowd. With tense muscles he lead me to the ticket booth. The line was rather short due to the early morning hours. The only question left was were do we do we go? We needed a place where two fire nation people would not look out of place while still being located in the Earth Kingdom. To emigrate to the Fire Nation would be both costly and dangerous. I briefly scan over a map pamplet, locating my old village in the Fire Nation. It was a quaint little place; a small fishing village where everyone knew your name and you knew where ever you went, there was always a dozen set of eyes watching out over you. It was a stark contrast to the anonymity and aloofness of city living.

For a brief moment, I felt a pang of guilt for leaving so suddenly, eloping with Tarn and whisking away in the night as if the previous 16 years of my life meant nothing to me. But then I remembered how easily my aunt gave me up to the sages from the temple with the same coldness that I showed when I left. There was nothing left for me there.

A few more moments of quick scanning yields nothing, until I land over a small colony in the Earth Kingdom with a Fire Nation name. Yu Dao. The name seemed so familiar, so safe. It was nestled in the Western corner of the Earth Kingdom, surrounded by dense woodland.

"Tarn, what about Yu Dao?" I piped up.

The handsome man scratches his chin. "Yu Dao... Why does that name seem so familiar?"

So I was right, in one point of our lives we'd encountered something about this place. I ponder for a moment before formulating my answer.

"I can remember now! In year 4 in our school, we learned about how the leader of the Earth Kingdom had taken the Fire Nation colony away after the defeat of Ozai and to this day remains Earth Kingdom territory." I said almost a bit too didactically.

"You know, that may actually work. The map says it's population is rather high, so we could easily blend in amongst the settlers there and begin a new life together- all over again." For someone who's been shouldering my burdens for most of my life, he also is very supportive of whatever I do. My heart flutters, reminding me of how we first met, but now wasn't the time for reminiscing.

"Alright, so Yu Dao it is?" I said with renewed confidence. I could escape once again and live free. Tarn gave me a genuine smile.

"I guess so, Hana." He said pleasantly.

Tarn and I bought tickets for the soonest train to Yu Dao, which would be in a few hours. To kill the time, I slept, it being a very exhausting day. I could rest easy knowing that Tarn could protect me from anything and everything that came after me. I gave him a tender kiss on the lips before melting in his arms asleep.

Yu Dao was finally within our reach and Yu Dao meant freedom.


End file.
